"Safety for the Soul"

This is another "Testimony Tuesday" post. I loved Elder Holland's impassioned testimony a couple of years ago in general conference. His talk is entitled Safety for the Soul, and I thought it'd be an appropriate testimony this week, since he specifically references Lehi's dream. Here's an excerpt:

In Lehi’s dream an already difficult journey gets more difficult when a mist of darkness arises, obscuring any view of the safe but narrow path his family and others are to follow. It is imperative to note that this mist of darkness descends on all the travelers—the faithful and the determined ones (the elect, we might even say) as well as the weaker and ungrounded ones. The principal point of the story is that the successful travelers resist all distractions, including the lure of forbidden paths and jeering taunts from the vain and proud who have taken those paths. The record says that the protected “did press their way forward, continually [and, I might add, tenaciously] holding fast” to a rod of iron that runs unfailingly along the course of the true path. However dark the night or the day, the rod marks the way of that solitary, redeeming trail.

“I beheld,” Nephi says later, “that the rod of iron … was the word of God, [leading] … to the tree of life; … a representation of the love of God.” Viewing this manifestation of God’s love, Nephi goes on to say:

“I looked and beheld the Redeemer of the world, … [who] went forth ministering unto the people. …

“… And I beheld multitudes of people who were sick, and who were afflicted with all manner of diseases, and with devils and unclean spirits; … and they were healed by the power of the Lamb of God; and the devils and the unclean spirits were cast out.”

Love. Healing. Help. Hope. The power of Christ to counter all troubles in all times—including the end of times. That is the safe harbor God wants for us in personal or public days of despair. That is the message with which the Book of Mormon begins, and that is the message with which it ends, calling all to “come unto Christ, and be perfected in him.” That phrase—taken from Moroni’s final lines of testimony, written 1,000 years after Lehi’s vision—is a dying man’s testimony of the only true way.

And the most memorable part, for me at least:

I ask that my testimony of the Book of Mormon and all that it implies, given today under my own oath and office, be recorded by men on earth and angels in heaven. I hope I have a few years left in my “last days,” but whether I do or do not, I want it absolutely clear when I stand before the judgment bar of God that I declared to the world, in the most straightforward language I could summon, that the Book of Mormon is true, that it came forth the way Joseph said it came forth and was given to bring happiness and hope to the faithful in the travail of the latter days.

Lesson 2: All Things According to His Will

I am not teaching this week, so will not be posting a lesson, but thought I'd at least post some links.

Mandatory reading:

1 Nephi, chapters 1 - 7.

Optional, official church site reading:

Class Member Study Guide.
Teacher's Manual.

Optional, "Philosophies of Men" reading on lesson 2:

FAIR study aid.

Feast Upon the Word blog.

Times and Seasons blog.

Gospel Doctrine Plus blog.

These are the few sites I've discovered with lesson content, I'd love to know if you have other online sources for gospel learning!

EDITED:

After a great lesson by my team teacher, I just wanted to post a few of the things that stood out to me in this lesson.

1. We discussed Lehi's revelations. I find it very interesting that in his second vision, "the first (Christ) came and stood before my father, and gave him a book, and bade him that he should read. And it came to pass that as he read, he was filled with the Spirit of the Lord." (1 Ne. 1:11-12, emphasis added). Do we discount the amazing revelations we've received in the form of books given to us by the Lord, simply because we've received them in a more conventional manner?
2. In Lehi's third vision (as least as recorded by Nephi), he is commanded to leave Jerusalem. We had a bit of discussion as to how long it took Lehi to do this. Some people were of the opinion that Lehi had the dream and left the next morning. I find it hard to believe that it's even possible to prepare for a journey of this kind so quickly. I have four kids and can't get us ready for a weekend away without a couple of days to do laundry, pack, and make other arrangements. But I think the timing of Lehi's departure is pretty insignificant. What seems relevant to me is that he was prepared to obey, and did. I doubt that we will ever be asked to obey in this exact way, but it prompted some dinner table discussion on preparedness at our house, and we will be focusing on preparedness in our next few family home evenings. It will be a great opportunity to update our emergency backpacks, and work on the emergency preparedness merit badge with our two scouts. As I tried to remember talks on preparedness from General Conference, I thought of one given by President Hinckley at the Priesthood session back in 1998, To the Boys and to the Men. It's title is deceptive. It is not just for the boys and men, but a great reminder of the peace available to all those who are prepared, both spiritually and temporally. I highly recommend reading (or re-reading) this.
3. Of course we discussed Nephi killing Laban. I've never really been satisfied with the "better that one man perish" justification. The Lord obviously could have provided a way for them to have these scriptures without the breaking of another (pretty major) commandment. Is it an Abrahamic test? And is it included in the narrative as a sifting process for readers? My favorite theorizing on this dilemma is that of Elder Holland, in a BYU devotional talk, The Will of the Father in All Things. The whole talk is good, but the part about this story is found under the subsection "Obedience, the First Law of Heaven."
4. Finally, we discussed the power of oaths in Nephi's day, as evidenced by the way Zoram "takes courage" and Lehi's sons' "fears did cease" once an oath had been sworn. Brother Gustin mentioned a talk by Elder Callister, Becoming Men and Women of Integrity. You can download the MP3 or PDF version of his talk for free here, or watch the talk here. It's excellent.

Testimony Tuesday

Sorry, I'm a sucker for a catchy alliterative title. I like to hear (or read) others testimonies. It strengthens my own. So when Rob suggested a weekly testimony post here, I took his advice. I've read quite a few, and it's hard to pick just one, but I thought that this one went well with President Boyer's challenge to focus on the Savior in the Book of Mormon this year. Here's an excerpt. Click on the link for the full article.

A Testimony of the Book of Mormon

Elder Russell M. Nelson

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

When you read the Book of Mormon, concentrate on the principal figure in the book—from its first chapter to the last—the Lord Jesus Christ.

Not long after my call to serve as one of the Twelve Apostles, I was summoned to the office of the President of our Quorum, President Ezra Taft Benson. He expressed deep concern that members of the Church did not fully appreciate the value of the Book of Mormon. With emotion in his voice, he read to me from the 84th section of the Doctrine and Covenants:

“Your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—

“Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation.”

By that time, President Benson had completely captured my attention. He then concluded his admonition:

“And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon.”

I shall never forget that lesson. Since then, President Howard W. Hunter, President Gordon B. Hinckley, and many other leaders of the Church have continued to extol the Book of Mormon to people throughout the world.

I would like to add my testimony of the divinity of this book. I have read it many times. I have also read much that has been written about it. Some authors have focused upon its stories, its people, or its vignettes of history. Others have been intrigued by its language structure or its records of weapons, geography, animal life, techniques of building, or systems of weights and measures.

Interesting as these matters may be, study of the Book of Mormon is most rewarding when one focuses on its primary purpose—to testify of Jesus Christ. By comparison, all other issues are incidental.

When you read the Book of Mormon, concentrate on the principal figure in the book—from its first chapter to the last—the Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God.

Lesson 1: The Keystone of Our Religion

Class Member study guide link here.

Teacher's Manual link here.

The Book of Mormon—Keystone of Our Religion by President Ezra Taft Benson, link here.

FAIR study aid, link here.

Feast Upon the Word blog, link here.

Times and Seasons, link here.

Gospel Doctrine Plus blog, link here.

New Year's Day. What a great time to evaluate our past year and analyze how we can make this next year even better. It seems like people either love New Year’s resolutions, or hate them. I hope, that even if you fall into the latter category, that you will consider at least one goal. It’s a challenge given to us through inspiration, by our Stake President, to focus again on using the Book of Mormon to become a Zion people. Happily, this coincides nicely with our gospel doctrine study this year. I’d like to remind you of some of President Boyer’s suggestions for studying the Book of Mormon this coming year:

• Passed out a reading chart (about a page and a half each day)
• Advised that it is more than just turning pages and checking boxes
• Said we should focus on Christ, and use our study as a vehicle to come unto Christ
• Asked us to get a clean copy ($2.50 at Distribution Center) and a red marking pencil
• Mentioned Elder Hanks’ marking system: underline everything about the Savior and the Atonement in red; things that relate to you in blue; and other important passages in green
• Recommended A New Witness for Christ by Elder Holland
• Also recommended Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, by Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet
• Encouraged us to liken the scriptures to ourselves, put ourselves there, find our own inspiration:

”Last year a church member sent me a suggestion that someone prepare a book containing all General Authority interpretations of all verses in the scriptures. I replied that I thought this was not a good idea…. What we are seeking to accomplish… is not to magnify the standing of the prophets but to elevate the spirituality of our rank and file members. Like Moses, we declare, ‘would God that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them!’ (Numbers 11:29). We encourage everyone to study the scriptures prayerfully and seek personal revelation to know the meaning for themselves.”

—Dallin H. Oaks

(I highly recommend Elder Bednar’s new book Increase in Learning to help us learn to do this.)

• President Boyer also encouraged us to adopt a regular plan and to pray, ponder & discuss
• Suggested that we hold a family B of M study class
• Asked us to use the Book of Mormon for talks, lessons, etc.
• Referred to talks about the B of M in last general conference by President Eyring, Elder Scott and Elder Callister

He specifically mentioned this statement by President Eyring:

“Your copy of the Book of Mormon may be hidden from your view by cares and attention to all you have accumulated in your journey.”

I’m ashamed to admit that this quote spoke to me—it’s one I highlighted in my copy of the conference Ensign. Yesterday I did an analysis of my reading over the past year. As near as I can figure, I read or listened to at least 52 books, for a total of 14,359 pages. For the first time in many years, the Book of Mormon was not one of the books I read. It was “hidden from my view “ by other “cares and attention.”

At this point in the lesson, I made a last minute decision to include most of my last post about Elder Bednar's talk Understanding the Importance of Scripture Study. Then class members shared their responses to the assignment I gave them as they came in: "Write the doctrinal reasons for studying the Book of Mormon." Wow. They pretty much covered every reason given by both Elder Bednar and President Benson. It was a good thing we had so much participation, because this is the point in the lesson where I nearly hacked up a lung in a coughing attack. Good timing. Good for my development of the Christlike characteristic of humility.

Unfortunately we ran out of time before we made it through all of President Benson's reasons, so scroll down a bit if you want to finish up. :)

President Benson also gives three reasons we should study the Book of Mormon, in his classic talk, The Book of Mormon—Keystone of Our Religion.

“There are three great reasons why Latter-day Saints should make the study of the Book of Mormon a lifetime pursuit. The first is that the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion. This was the Prophet Joseph Smith’s statement. He testified that “the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion.”

“There are three ways in which the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion. It is the keystone in our witness of Christ. It is the keystone of our doctrine. It is the keystone of testimony.”

—Ezra Taft Benson

Keystone of Witness

• Title page: According to the second paragraph, what is the main purpose of the Book of Mormon? (To convince all people that Jesus is the Christ, manifesting Himself to all nations.)
• Of the 6,607 verses in the modern editions of the Book of Mormon, 3,925 of them make direct reference to Jesus Christ, an average of 1 reference to Christ every 1.7 verses. (Source: Fair Wiki, link above.)
• If BoM is true, then the resurrected Christ was seen and touched by thousands of people in ancient America. Thus, Jesus really rose from the dead and the Atonement is real.

“The Bible is one witness of Jesus Christ; the Book of Mormon is another. Why is this second witness so crucial? The following illustration may help: How many straight lines can you draw through a single point on a piece of paper? The answer is infinite. For a moment, suppose that single point represents the Bible and that hundreds of those straight lines drawn through that point represent different interpretations of the Bible and that each of those interpretations represents a different church.

What happens, however, if on that piece of paper there is a second point representing the Book of Mormon? How many straight lines could you draw between these two reference points: the Bible and the Book of Mormon? Only one. Only one interpretation of Christ’s doctrines survives the testimony of these two witnesses.”

—Elder Tad R. Callister

Keystone of Doctrine

In what ways is the Book of Mormon the “keystone of our doctrine”? (See D&C 10:45–46; 20:8–12.)

• If the BoM is true, then Joseph Smith was a prophet and the doctrines taught in the revelations he received are also true.
• Fulness does not mean complete:
  “The Lord Himself has stated that the Book of Mormon contains the ‘fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.’ That does not mean it contains every teaching, every doctrine ever revealed. Rather, it means that in the Book of Mormon we will find the fullness of those doctrines required for our salvation. And they are taught plainly and simply so that even children can learn the ways of salvation and exaltation.”

—President Benson

How has the Book of Mormon increased your understanding of important gospel doctrines?

Keystone of Testimony

• If a person gains a testimony of the BoM, then they also gain a testimony that (1) God exists, (2) Jesus Christ's atonement is real, (3) Joseph Smith was a prophet, and (4) the Church is true.

“The second great reason why we must make the Book of Mormon a center focus of study is that it was written for our day. The Nephites never had the book; neither did the Lamanites of ancient times. It was meant for us. Mormon wrote near the end of the Nephite civilization. Under the inspiration of God, who sees all things from the beginning, he abridged centuries of records, choosing the stories, speeches, and events that would be most helpful to us.”

—President Benson

“Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing.” (Morm. 8:34–35.)

“If they saw our day, and chose those things which would be of greatest worth to us, is not that how we should study the Book of Mormon? We should constantly ask ourselves, “Why did the Lord inspire Mormon (or Moroni or Alma) to include that in his record? What lesson can I learn from that to help me live in this day and age?”

—President Benson

The third reason for studying the book is that it helps us draw nearer to God.

• What are precepts? How can the precepts of the Book of Mormon bring us nearer to God?
• What changes and blessings have come into your life when you have studied and pondered the Book of Mormon regularly?

“The moment you begin a serious study of [the Book of Mormon, you] will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path. … When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance.”

—President Benson

What is a goal that you have, or can set this year in relation to your study of the Book of Mormon?

Reading consistently? Pondering more? Starting a scripture journal? Sharing a copy of the Book of Mormon? Living a precept more fully?

I'm still considering my own goals. Teaching Gospel Doctrine will surely be a blessing. I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback!

By the way, it did not escape my attention that although I advocated President Boyer's advice to teach from the Book of Mormon, we did not read a single scripture during this class. I scrapped my original lesson plan (which I had spent hours preparing, and which closely followed the manual), hopefully under the inspiration of the Spirit. I promise, this lesson will be the exception, not the rule!

Understanding the Importance of Scripture Study

Why is it that we don't always do what we know will make us happier? Studying the scriptures daily, exercising and eating healthy foods, attending the temple frequently, controlling our tempers...the list is probably endless. It's a question I often ask this time of year, when I realize that I am making a few new year's resolutions yet again. I know better, why don't I act better?

This week I've been immersed in Elder Bednar's recent book Increase in Learning, and feel like I am closer to understanding the answer to my challenge. He drives home the point made by President Packer, "True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior." So, what is the doctrinal reason for studying the scriptures? If we find ourselves struggling to read the scriptures daily, perhaps a greater understanding of this doctrine will motivate us.

One of the most articulate and succinct summaries of this doctrine is found in a devotional talk given by Elder Bednar, at BYU-Idaho in 1998. You can find the transcript here:

Understanding the Importance of Scripture Study

Here are the three doctrinal reasons Elder Bednar suggests:

• Studying the scriptures is important because of the covenants we have made.
• Studying the scriptures is important because of the direction we need in our lives.
• Studying the scriptures is important because scripture study is a preparation for and prerequisite to receiving personal revelation. (Elder Oaks gave an excellent talk on this called Scripture Reading and Revelation.

He uses the scriptures and personal experience to expound these reasons. I highly recommend reading the whole talk. Who doesn't need the promised blessings of increased faith, protection and guidance?

Elder Bednar also suggests principles that can help each of us become more effective in our personal study of the scriptures:

1. Pray. Ask and seek for understanding, and invite the help of the Holy Ghost.
2. Work. "We cannot expect to reap scriptural insight unless we pay the price of regular and diligent study."
3. Consistency. A specific, scheduled time and place for study is recommended.
4. Ponder. Consider, contemplate, reflect upon, think about. This cannot be forced, hurried or rushed. Questions to keep in mind as you study: "What was the question that brought about the inquiry and the revelation?" and "Why did the Lord inspire Mormon (or Moroni or Alma) to include that in his record? What lesson can I learn from that to help me live in this day and age?"
5. Look for connections, patterns and parallels. See A Reservoir of Living Water, a CES fireside by Elder Bednar for more great insight on this.
6. Write your thoughts and feelings. I love President Eyring's talk, O Remember, Remember, about keeping a spiritual journal. See the sidebar for tips on scripture journaling.

I hope that Elder Bednar's words are as inspiring to you as they have been to me. Remember, true understanding comes through the Spirit as we act.

"You and I may know the right things to do, but intelligence involves more than just knowing. If you and I are intelligent, we will consistently do the right things. Knowing that the gospel is true is important, good and necessary. Intelligence is consistently being true to the gospel that we know."

~from Increase in Learning, p. 74-75